Digitalization of state financial control: ontological modeling as a tool for implementing a data-centric approach

Natalia F.  Altukhova; Olga I.  Dolganova; Olga A.  Morozova

doi:10.17323/2587-814X.2025.3.48.66

Natalia F. Altukhova Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6893-9442
Olga I. Dolganova Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6060-5421
Olga A. Morozova Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1636-2180

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17323/2587-814X.2025.3.48.66

Keywords: data-centric management, ontology, state financial control, digital footprint, smart control, GRADE, expert assessment method, G(M)FC, GFC

Abstract

The move towards data-centric architectures is a global trend for both commercial and government structures. Therefore, it is undoubtedly interesting to consider issues related to improving state financial control within the paradigm of data-centric public administration and to develop a conceptual approach to collecting and analyzing information about controlled entities, taking into account the possibilities for expanding the set of information sources and types of data on companies’ activities. To date, there has been virtually no research in the Russian scientific community on the conceptualization of the subject area of financial control, and the existing work is fragmentary. Therefore, the aim of this work is to justify the feasibility of applying an ontological model in the field of digitalization of state financial control functions, as well as to develop a prototype ontological model of state (municipal) financial control. Based on an analysis of the experience of Russia and foreign countries (China, the United States, Canada, South Korea, Argentina, Brazil, India, etc.) in the field of digitalization of state financial control functions, organizational, managerial and technological recommendations for building an effective system of risk-oriented state (municipal) financial control have been formulated. The recommendations have been systematized and ranked using the GRAGE approach and expert assessment methods. A survey showed that experts are focusing on the development of standardized approaches to the collection and processing of heterogeneous data, as well as the development of an ontological model. The main focus is on building an ontology for the subject area of state financial control. It is proposed to use a combination of top-level ontology (the BFO basic formal ontology standardized in the Russian Federation) with a subject ontology developed taking into account the specifics of state financial control in the Russian Federation. The ontological engineering methodology was based on a fractal approach, the Methontology framework, and the methodology of visual-analytical thinking. The ontology specification was completed, a prototype meta-ontology was obtained, including the basic concepts of state financial control, and prototypes of category ontologies and data sources used in expert and analytical activities by state structures were constructed.

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